Water
by SoloWraith
Summary: What really happened or might have happened in New Caledonia. Water's one of those things you don't really notice until you don't have any—or until it's a danger. SoEul
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: A two-or three-shot while I take a break from another project._

New Caledonia was, without a doubt, a beautiful place to visit; its white sand beaches, glistening aquamarine ocean, and pristine air ready-made for a tourist brochure campaign advertising glamorous destinations. To the somewhat jaded eyes of a young man who had been there numerous times already, however, it was nothing remarkable.

Still, Yi Jung, lounging in a comfortable rattan chair set up under an umbrella near the water, had to admit that he was enjoying himself more this time around. He wasn't entirely sure who or what was responsible for that. He'd more or less resigned himself to the fact that Jun Pyo expected him to be the babysitter of Jandi's little country friend Ga Eul while they were all here. It hadn't been that bad..yet. He'd been stuck dragging her around to all the touristy things but they had shared a few entertaining exchanges--for all that she was ignorant, she wasn't stupid--and she had surprised him more than once with her pert replies.

He took a sip from the imported water that had been brought out to him earlier and tipped the chair back a little to stay in the shade, as the sun slowly drifted further along the sky.

There were definitely worse places to be than here.

Yi Jung squinted through his sunglasses, wondering where everyone had gotten to. Woo Bin was still busy charming the pair of western girls; he could hear the trio's laughter beyond the beach, up near the tree line. Jun Pyo and Jandi must have gone for a walk; they'd been alongside him earlier in their own chairs, arguing loudly the whole time in that way that seemed to work for them, but they must have slipped away at some point. He could see their footprints straggling off in the sand, which seemed to stretch away endlessly, like a pale ribbon bordering a blanket of rippling blue-green that was the ocean.

He glanced over to his left. Ga Eul was probably still taking pictures of herself. He rolled his eyes inwardly, remembering. Not that she hadn't been sort of cute when he'd spotted her doing that earlier. In an obnoxious country yokel kind of way.

But he realized she wasn't there, either. Well, she'd probably gone back to the cabins, then, or discovered some new wonder to marvel over. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Girls like her were so easily impressed. It almost made him want to try...especially considering the fact that lately just the sight of him made her nose wrinkle as if she were displeased. He'd turn her mind around fast enough...

_Oh, don't even go there, Jung-ah_, he told himself. _You know the rules._ _You _made_ the rules_.

This is what happened when you let yourself get bored. He wondered how much more time Jun Pyo planned on spending here. There was one thing he knew for sure and that was that Jun Pyo wasn't going to let any of them go home until he was good and ready...

Yi Jung saw, now, out of the corner of his eye, that Ga Eul was in fact approaching from the left. He watched her small figure appraisingly as she made her way slowly along the sand. It both amused and oddly pleased him that she was more modest than the other girls, wearing shorts and some type of cover-up over her swimsuit.

When she drew close enough to be heard, he said, "You look like you're getting burned." She didn't actually, but he wanted to see her reaction.

Her eyebrows drew together. "I put on sunscreen," she said with a touch of defiance.

He replied, with his practiced smile, "Come under the umbrellas."

She looked uncertain for a moment, glanced up at the sun and finally came over to sit down, gingerly, on one of the nearby chairs. Not *the* nearest one, he noticed.

"Where are the others?" Ga Eul asked after a few seconds.

He shrugged, and, realizing that she was eyeing his bottle of frosted water, took a long drink from it.

Ga Eul's eyes narrowed.

He smiled ingratiatingly but didn't answer her question.

A trill of laughter sounded from up near the tree line, and as she glanced in the direction of the sound he noticed that she made the tiniest of faces.

"Why?" Yi Jung wanted to know. "You don't like Woo Bin's friends?"

"No," Ga Eul defended, and when she glanced up to meet his eyes she added, reluctantly, "They're nice--only--loud."

A silence passed between them, while both of them looked out over the waves.

"Want some water?" he said, holding the bottle aloft, knowing that she did.

She gave that little grimace again. "No."

"You say that a lot," he observed.

"N..." Ga Eul began to object and looked flustered.

"Well," Yi Jung said, rising and stretching, knowing that his unbuttoned shirt revealed his chest and stomach to their advantage, and catching her noticing that too, he smiled. "I'm going in."

"Bye," she mumbled.

He left the bottle of water on the chair and began the walk back up to the treeline, beyond which were the main buildings. Turning when he was almost there, he saw Ga Eul stealthily opening the bottle of water, and, holding it carefully above her lips so that her mouth didn't actually touch where his had been, drinking from it.

_Aissh...maybe I'm the one who's been in the sun too long for even thinking about playing with her..._


	2. Chapter 2

It was mid-morning of the following day, and the weather, while still pleasant, had cooled a little, and it was slightly overcast. Since in the past few days their group had indulged in a range of activities, from sightseeing to horseback riding to various sports, none of them felt inclined this morning to do more than relax on the spacious decks near the plaza of the main building.

Ji Hoo was reading aloud from a book of poetry, though it was hard to tell who was his intended audience; Jan Di and Jun Pyo, though nearby, seemed more interested in each other. Woo Bin and Yi Jung were chatting with the other girls, and, as Ga Eul watched them discreetly out of the corner of her eye, they all seemed to be enjoying themselves.

She was the only one with really nothing to do, and it was at times like these, when they had no particular organized activity that she chafed at having to be in attendance. She was enjoying their impromptu visit to New Caledonia, she really was--it was like something out of a dream, really, all the things they were doing, and seeing, and eating for the first time--but at moments like this, when the others were paired off (with the exception of Ji Hoo, but he seemed to be in a different place than the rest of them, anyway), it was more than awkward.

For her, at least. She didn't think anyone else was feeling it.

Ga Eul sipped a little aimlessly from her tropical fruit drink, realized it was already empty only after she registered the sound of the straw sucking at air, and set it down with a small sigh. Auditorily, there was so much going on; the Korean poetry mingled with the English conversations interspersed with murmurs between Jan Di and Jun Pyo which, though not intended for her ears, were heard by them anyway; the unfamiliar birds and small insect sounds in the lush leafy canopy above their heads; and farther out, to the beach below, the ever-present rushing of the ocean.

That, at least she liked to listen to, she thought, rolling her eyes at something Yi Jung had just said to one of the women. She hadn't fully understood it, but the smoothness of his tone was irritating, as was the delighted giggle of the girl's in reply.

_Honestly, how shallow do you have to be to hang on a man's every word like that?_

Ga Eul frowned at her skirt, the edge of which she'd just noticed had a loose thread. She picked it off, and part of it unraveled. Well, at least she now had an excuse to go back to the cabins and change--though she didn't really want to sit alone in the cabins, either--she'd already spent a few hours doing that on this trip already.

Jun Pyo kept trying to catch Jan Di's hand, and she kept pulling away, whilst making a face at him. They were pretty adorable, Ga Eul had to admit, but it was kind of unbearable to sit there with everyone else so relaxed and comfortable, and she felt so out of place.

Her eyes met Yi Jung's as she glanced over in his direction and he happened to look at her at the same time. He gave her his cool smile but she felt, perhaps mistakenly, that there was something mocking in it. At once piqued, she edged out of her chair, and pausing by her friend, murmured her intentions to go for a walk.

"Are you OK?" Jan Di wanted to know, a little anxiously. "Do you want me to come?" It was clear, though, while her offer was genuine, she would rather stay where she was.

And so Ga Eul demurred, excusing herself to Jun Pyo and Ji Hoo as well; basic manners demanded that she at least give a head bob to the other members of F4 but they weren't looking at her at that moment anyway and she had no desire to go over there and actually announce her departure. She didn't want to make Woo Bin feel bad because she knew he would if he realized she was being left out--he was that kind of guy, who wanted to make everyone happy. And as for Yi Jung, well, she simply didn't want to look him in the eye any more than she had to right now.

It was one thing, after all, to sit there in silence and be ignored by everybody; it was another thing entirely to have someone openly acknowledge her isolation and...and dare to make fun of it. If that's what he'd been doing. She didn't know. She just hadn't been able to stay there any longer.

Ga Eul made her way down to the beach, intending to return to the cabin first to change clothes and then go for the walk; but she saw the paddleboat that she and ...er, that...that person that she was trying to forget about...had taken out earlier that week, and on a whim, she climbed into it again and determinedly set out in the water. The waves were gentle enough, though the sky was overcast. The repetitive motion of her legs soothed her rather ruffled spirit. She took a deep breath of salt-tinged air, at last feeling free of the little society that they had (she felt) so haphazardly formed here.

_I won't go far...just to the point there, and then turn around..._

Focusing on the not very distant coastal point out ahead of her, however, she didn't notice the rapidly gathering clouds to the south...


	3. Chapter 3

Jan Di, her forehead knitted into a frown, came up to the terrace where F4 was gathered about to begin lunch.

"What is it?" Jun Pyo wanted to know, his half-amused, slightly indulgent tone suggesting it was not an infrequent occurrence to see his would-be girlfriend with such an expression on her face.

"Ga Eul said she was going for a walk, but she's not back yet. And then I saw the paddle boat was gone."

"It's going to rain," Jun Pyo said dubiously, while the other members of F4 looked slightly concerned, with the exception of Yi Jung who was just looking thoughtful, as if he hadn't quite registered Jan Di's words. "She wouldn't have taken the boat out, would she?"

"I think she did. I walked down the beach but couldn't see any trace of her."

"It _is_ raining," Ji Hoo remarked. Sure enough, the lightest of misty rains was beginning to fall. While there was no evidence beyond the gray sky that the weather was going to turn much worse, it was certainly not ideal conditions for being on the water. For a moment Jan Di and Jun Pyo just looked at each other, then Woo Bin rose, putting in, "I'll go look for her. I can take one of the jet skis--"

"No."

The interruption by Yi Jung came as a surprise to all gathered, mainly because of the abrupt manner in which it was delivered. He rose, putting a hand on Woo Bin's forearm. "I will go."

His friends shared a look amongst themselves. Jan Di looked slightly baffled, and as if she might question his offer, but after sharing a quick glance with Jun Pyo she inclined her head in Yi Jung's direction as if to accept his will in the matter.

Woo Bin said, "Okayyy," deliberately in English in an attempt to lighten the inexplicably tense mood, and sat back down, with a little smile.

"Strange," was Ji Hoo's mild comment, when Yi Jung had gone and was out of hearing distance.

"What is?" Jan Di asked, still looking with concern after the departed F4 member.

"He's angry."

"Why should he be angry?"

"Who knows?" Ji Hoo replied cryptically.

Jun Pyo and Woo Bin exchanged glances.

"Well, I certainly don't," Jan Di said with some impatience. "I don't know Yi Jung sunbae very well, and it's not as if I asked him to go, so why--"

"Ah, it's nothing, he probably just didn't want lunch to be late," Jun Pyo interrupted.

Jan Di glared at him, seeing this for the distraction that it was.

***

The waves were not yet at the point where they could be called rough, but they still called for careful maneuvering of the jetski across the ever-changing surface of the water. There was no sight of the paddleboat anywhere in the distance off to the east, so he had turned the craft in the opposite direction, hoping that Ga Eul would be somewhere just beyond the point. He only thought that far and no further. Of course she had to be there, it wasn't even raining that hard and she hadn't been gone that long, and unlike Jun Pyo she knew how to swim--didn't she? He could recall having seen her splashing about near the beach earlier that week but didn't know how that related to her ability to survive in deeper waters.

Though it was unlikely that she had fallen out, how much of a country idiot would you have to be to fall out of a paddleboat of all things? Still...she had been foolish enough to just wander off, like a child, so who knew.

_This is why I dislike innocent girls...they are nothing but trouble_.

It didn't take long to reach the point, and, swinging the jetski around in a wide half-circle to avoid the rocks straggling outwards from the shore, Yi Jung saw what he was looking for--the paddleboat.

But not its occupant.

The craft itself was bumping gently against the pebbles that lined the shore here, continuously pushed inward by the waves. Yi Jung tried to ignore the fact that his heart had suddenly began to pound, as if given a shot of adrenalin. He let the jetski slow itself down as he approached the boat. The rain misted lightly around his shoulders, not even hard enough to be threatening, just enough to be taunting.

He shouted her name in fierce irritation, and was rewarded a few seconds later by a flash of movement beyond the trees. Ga Eul came, frowning, out of the bushes, looking both puzzled and self-conscious.

Yi Jung let out a breath, willed his heart to return to normal, and glared at her, but it took a few moments before he could summon up the discipline to address her in a normal tone of voice. "What are you doing out here?"

"I...I wanted to be alone," she said, with a touch of defiance.

"In a rainstorm?"

"It's not raining that hard," Ga Eul argued, wrapping her arms around her body.

"Why didn't you come back sooner?"

"I tried, but...the waves kept pushing me back in here and I was getting tired, so I left the boat and I thought I would just walk back. It's not that far..."

He followed her glance to the massed trees and overgrowth, then looked at her bare legs and sandals and tried to imagine her fighting her way through the bushes back to the beach. Still, she probably would have rather done that than admit she'd been stupid. Yi Jung drew a hand across his forehead, damp with rain and salt-spray. For a moment he was at a loss for words.

"Why didn't someone else come?" Ga Eul said, still standing there as if she hadn't actually made the decision to let him take her back.

_Because I didn't give them a choice_. "You know, among well-educated people it's considered ill-mannered to complain when someone rescues you."

"I'm not complaining," she said, her cheeks tinting. "And I didn't need rescuing from anyone, I don't care how well-educated they are."

"Miss Ga Eul," he said, as coolly as he could. "Are you coming with me or not?"


	4. Chapter 4

_"Are you coming with me or not?"_

Yi Jung's voice registered in her ears, but it didn't really sound like a question, more like he was angry, or accusing, or trying to sound cool but really sounding angry, or some combination of those things. Ga Eul blinked, distracted for a split second by the way the rain and ocean spray had plastered his white shirt to his torso, then tucked hair behind her ears self-consciously. She did _not_ need to be noticing things like that right now! But why _had_ he come? If it had been any of the other guys she had no doubt they might have had a few teasing words for her, but then that would have been the end of it...

She frowned, realizing he was waiting for an answer.

"You know," he said, now in a conversational tone, as if the brief silence between them had given him time to re-establish his composure, "you are causing a problem."

She made a sound of incredulity. "Unbelievable," she muttered under her breath, and then, more loudly, "It seems like you've forgotten who brought me here."

He smiled and his expression grew pained, though it was cultivated. "Don't be offended, but it wasn't my idea."

_Honestly...he is such a..._ Ga Eul narrowed her eyes at him across the stretch of water. "You practically kidnapped me."

"That was Jun Pyo's idea."

"And do you go along with all of his ideas?" she said saucily.

"I had my doubts that this was a good one," he said, sighing. "And you are going to prove me right, aren't you?"

"Don't trouble yourself on my account," Ga Eul said, turning her head away to gaze off to her right, though it was hard to look as dignified as she'd have liked considering the rain flattening her hair and dripping down along her folded arms.

Yi Jung dropped his own head for a moment as if seeking strength, perhaps patience, from some other source. "Are you going to come, or do you need me to bring you over here?" He sounded skeptical.

"Do whatever you want," Ga Eul replied. She was mad that he was acting as if this were all her fault. It wasn't as if she'd drifted away on purpose. It wasn't as if she had even asked to come here. She'd been tricked into it. And she would never have gone anywhere with So Yi Jung even if he _had_ asked her. So she didn't feel inclined to accompany him anywhere now either.

"I'd love to put you on the plane and send you back to Korea," Yi Jung groaned. He looked up again and around, possibly hoping for such a plane to materialize right there.

"Look here," Ga Eul said sharply. "It's becoming apparent that you have a rather low view of women, but you should know I am not cargo, to be put anywhere."

"Low view of women...where did that come from?" Yi Jung applied pressure to the handle, sending the watercraft forward to gently bump against the shore. He disembarked, pulling it up just enough so that it wouldn't float away, and crossed over to where the paddleboat floated, doing the same. Turning now to look at her, he said, pleasantly, but with a touch of steel in his voice, "I don't think you know enough about me to make that judgment."

She rolled her eyes. "Perhaps not, though a reputation has to count for something."

With this parting shot, she turned and began to navigate the pebbly beach, up towards the tree line.

"Where are you going?" Yi Jung demanded. "Come back here. Do you expect me to chase you through the forest? I don't usually play these kinds of games in weather like this."

"I'm not running," Ga Eul retorted over her shoulder. "And I am not playing. I simply don't want to talk with you any longer." She was quite pleased with herself for the authoritative tone in her voice when she delivered this statement, which sense immediately evaporated when she lost her balance over a slippery rock and stumbled.

She was not entirely sure how Yi Jung managed to get there so quickly, but suddenly there he was, right beside her, one hand on her arm and another around her waist, helping her up. Tilting her head back to look at him, she caught his expression of concern just seconds before his brow cleared and he said, "Be careful."

Self-consciously, she pushed him away. "I am fine."

For a few moments they stood like that, the sound of their breathing not quite drowned out by the lightest of rains, both momentarily numbed by the sudden awareness of societal obligations intruding, and their own wishes to say what they would have liked, and then Yi Jung said, coaxingly, "Our friends are worried about you..."

Ga Eul couldn't help but respond to this appeal to her sense of duty. Rather meekly, she let him take hold of her hand again, and when he tugged, back in the direction of the shore, she did not resist being led.

It wasn't until he helped her to board the jet ski and, climbing in front of her, told her to hang on to him that she balked again. It was not out of coquettishness, as it might have been in other girls, but rather that she had a very firm sense of what was proper. When he glanced around to see why she wasn't complying, Ga Eul at last, tentatively, placed her hands on his shoulders, deciding that this was an acceptable alternative to actually embracing him from behind. As it was, just touching him of her own accord was embarrassing enough, and she didn't know if their seclusion made the situation better or worse.

Yi Jung said, "You're going to fall off," and gunned the engine to prove his point. The startling lurch of the machine, which until now she had never ridden, caused her to squeak in fright and throw her arms around him out of sheer reflex.

"That's better," he said, with a laugh in his voice.

Ga Eul squeezed her eyes shut in humiliation, and pressed the side of her face against his back...which, though damp from rain, felt nice and warm and secure. If only she didn't feel like she hated him right now. If only she could survive as long as it took to get them back to the beach...


	5. Chapter 5

_(A/N: This is getting longer than expected. I hope nobody minds.)_

Soft music drifted across the evening air, which was redolent with the scent of lush tropical flowers. While the terrace was lit all around by gleaming sconces, and mini lights sparkled in the greenery above, it was just dark enough to create an intimate atmosphere.

In the distance, the slowly fading sunset was still spectacular, with the horizon awash in a blend of deep blue, purple, and crimson colors, angry clouds the only reminder that it had been raining that day.

Yi Jung, who had the artist's eye for beauty, noted all this with dispassion. He had a crystal glass of wine on the table in front of him, and a girl sitting to his left, but he wasn't paying attention to either of these things.

He ran a finger around the rim of the glass rather absently, his thoughts going back to earlier in the day. In retrospect, it had, at least, been fairly entertaining. All the irritation he'd felt when Ga Eul disappeared without any warning had evaporated on discovering that she was safe. And even though she'd seemed determined to keep on annoying him with her innocently saucy remarks, it had been worth it when he'd realized how uncomfortable she was with riding behind him on the jet ski back to the beach.

(Though _that_ had been a bit of an aggravation, towards the end; Jan Di making an inordinate amount of fuss over her friend the minute they stepped onto solid ground and both Woo Bin and Jun Pyo had had a couple of wisecracks to make about their respective drenched states.)

Yi Jung had assumed Ga Eul would hide in the cabins this night once they knew about the dinner and dancing Jun Pyo had informed them would be on the schedule; but he had to give her credit, she'd showed up right on time for dinner and had even come over to him and greeted him properly, looked him right in the eye, even. He couldn't find fault with her manners. Or with her appearance. Glancing across the terrace at the girl who'd been the focus of his day, Yi Jung had to admit that she cleaned up pretty well. Not that her clothes and styling could compete with any other girls he ever hung out with, but she wore her simple outfit well and there was a freshness to her face, and tonight a stubbornness, that he found entertaining.

Appealing, even.

It had been almost an hour since dinner and Jun Pyo was leading a reluctant Jan Di onto the floor to dance, in the far corner of the terrace. Ji Hoo was playing a haphazard accompaniment to the music with his violin, and looked lost in it, as he usually did. Yi Jung, looking around for Woo Bin, realized that his friend had just pulled out a chair and sat down, in his easy manner that somehow managed to be both casual and polite, opposite Ga Eul, across the terrace. Ga Eul sat up a little straighter, but Yi Jung, watching her expression closely, didn't think she looked displeased at Woo Bin's arrival.

".....didn't we?" He caught just the last bit of whatever the girl...what was her name, Melissa, or Melody, or something was asking him, and gave her his I'm-listening-to-you smile, even though he hadn't been, not really.

Woo Bin appeared to be asking Ga Eul if she wanted to dance. She demurred. Yi Jung relaxed a little; she had some sense, then, she had no business dancing with Woo Bin, or anybody else for that matter. But then she looked across the terrace at him, met his gaze, held it for a few heartbeats, looked back up at Woo Bin and smiled.

_Now what's that child playing at?_ Yi Jung wondered, with a vague sense of displeasure. He took a long drink from his as yet untouched glass of wine, but the expensive liquid was wasted on him, as he barely noticed its taste, exquisite though it was.

"We should dance," said his table partner, following his gaze to the two other couples.

He rose and said, dismissively, "Maybe later." With the wine settling, warm and emboldening, in his stomach, he strolled over to Woo Bin and Ga Eul.

The pair were moving around the floor, Woo Bin leading casually; he was holding Ga Eul at a respectful distance, at least. She was following him rather awkwardly, with the occasional muted giggle when she made a misstep, but there was a subtle, comfortable camaraderie to their interaction that Yi Jung was happy to interrupt.

"Hey," he said, materializing near his friend's elbow, and giving him a once-over. "What are you two doing?"

"Dancing," Woo Bin replied in his droll way, taking Ga Eul's arm and raising it above her head to turn her around. She did so, but her eyes sought Yi Jung's, uncertainly, when she came back to face him.

Yi Jung made a sound of scorn. "Dancing. You look like children."

"Well," Woo Bin said, refusing to take offense, and his tone suggesting that he was amused, "you could probably do better...eh?"

Neither of them missed the look of alarm that crossed Ga Eul's face.

"Of course I could," Yi Jung said, "even while sleeping."

Though Ga Eul started to protest, Woo Bin took her hand that had been on his shoulder and placed it in Yi Jung's. Then, giving them both a paternal smile, he said, "Bless you, my children," and drifted away.

Ga Eul tried, unobtrusively, to withdraw her hand from his, yet he did not allow it. It might have been the look of apprehension she had on her face but he had no intention of letting her go.


	6. Chapter 6

_I can't do this..._

Ga Eul willed the nervous rushing of her blood to calm down. _It's just dancing_, she reminded herself. _You were doing this with Woo Bin oppa just a few minutes ago and you were fine._..of course that had been different, for one thing Woo Bin hadn't held her nearly so close and for another...well...it was just different.

Yi Jung's motions were smooth and effortless. His fingers on one hand were intertwined with hers, and his other hand was warm and secure on her back, guiding her. Which was a good thing because she had no idea what they were doing or how to do it; she just hoped she didn't look too foolish.

As they moved, she turned her head to the side, almost against his chest, so that he wouldn't be able to see her expression. She was sure her nervousness would have been written all over her face; she'd never been very good at hiding her feelings.

"Ga Eul yang. Relax," he chided softly, and tightened his arm around her, bringing her body in even closer proximity to his. Perhaps the move was instinctive rather than intentional, but she immediately stiffened, and tripped a little, getting her legs tangled up with his.

In the background, if either had been paying attention to hear it, Ji Hoo's violin made a quirky harsh note in mimicry.

"I'm sorry," Ga Eul said, taking advantage of the brief interruption to break away. "I...I'm rather tired." The excuse sounded lame even to her own ears.

Yi Jung merely smiled. He reached out, and before she had the chance (or presence of mind) to back away completely out of reach, ran his fingers along the curve of her neck and collarbone, which were bared by the simple dress she wore.

Strangely, though the contact made her shiver, she somehow understood that gesture was driven more by architectural curiosity than a carnal one, as if his sensitive artist's hands merely sought for a chance to fathom something through touching it.

She was momentarily frozen, unable to look away from his mouth, upon which the smile had faded, as his expression grew more serious.

"Excuse me," she said in a tiny voice.

_I have to get away from here--I can't think properly_. _What is wrong with me?_

Ga Eul backed up a few more steps and then turned, not caring how ridiculous she must look fleeing, and hurried in the direction of the broad flagstone stairs leading to the piers below. Away from the lamps of the terrace, the cool evening air was like a welcome blessing as it struck her overheated skin.

She breathed in deeply and exhaled several times, hoping that the action would calm her, but it was insufficient.

"Ga Eul-ah? Are you ok?" It was Jan Di, having left Jun Pyo for the moment to come over to the balcony and call down to her.

She waved back, feeling insincere. "Yes, I'm just too hot."

Her friend nodded in understanding, and gave her a reassuring if puzzled smile before disappearing back behind the stone ledge.

Ga Eul hesitated, only just having made up her mind to return to the cabins when she saw Yi Jung, hands in his suit pockets, coming purposefully down the steps in her direction.

_No! Why is he following me!_ She thought for an instant she might still have time to flee to the cabins via the beach, but it wouldn't be possible. She only had the long stretch of wooden pier behind her now, so she was effectively trapped. Looking around wildly anyway for inspiration, she saw only the velvety black ocean on either side.

There was nothing to do but to follow the pier out to its end. And it did stretch out for quite a distance; the water was endlessly shallow here. Her heels clattered on the wooden boards, followed closely thereafter by the sound of Yi Jung's determined footsteps.

When she could walk no further, she stopped, took a deep breath and felt her still warm cheeks, then summoning up nerve from some inner source, turned around to look at him, a half-dozen steps behind her.

He did look irritated. Ga Eul tried not to feel intimidated by this.

After all, it wasn't as if he was going to push her into the water. Though that might have be preferable to some of the other things he might possibly do.

"Silly girl." His tone was lighter than she'd been preparing herself for. "Where are you going?"

"You were chasing me," she said, defensively.

"I was following you," he clarified. "Because you ran off. In the middle of a dance."

"I was tired."

"No you weren't."

She began to protest but her voice died in her throat at the calm contradiction. His eyes were so dark, so knowing. So...focused. It wasn't fair that she always felt disadvantaged and flustered around him.

"All right," she said, lifting her chin defiantly, deciding it was time to take back the upper hand. "I just...didn't want to dance with you any more."

_Bet he doesn't hear _that _very often. _Ga Eul felt she had delivered the lie quite convincingly, and was rewarded by a brief moment of puzzlement crossing his features, as if he had indeed never encountered such a rebuttal.

"Still," he said after a minute. "That's no excuse for such manners."

"I should say your manners are lacking!" Ga Eul exclaimed, stung. "You just--_grabbed_ my hand--you didn't even ask me. Just like in the porridge shop!"

Yi Jung sighed a little as if this were something they had already settled. (Which they had, to _his_ satisfaction at least, she supposed.) "You wouldn't have said yes. Then. Or now."

Though from a logical standpoint she wanted to agree with him, Ga Eul's heart whispered very betrayingly, _I might have done anything you asked me, had you only done it nicely enough._

Which was _not_ helpful. She silenced the inner murmur with an angry shake of her head.

Yi Jung mistook this gesture to mean she was disagreeing with what he'd said. He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Confused, Ga Eul stalled for time, wondering what she was supposed to say. _Yes--I would have said yes? No, I wouldn't have said yes....Ah! I'm going crazy._

"Well," he said, delivering that smile, which even in the dim moonlight was damnably radiant. "So you will dance with me?"


	7. Chapter 7

What was it about this girl that made him want to coax a smile out of her? Yi Jung wondered. And once he did succeed in doing so--because he would, he had never failed yet at accomplishing anything he put his mind towards--would he then grow tired of her and move on?

He wasn't sure. And he didn't really want to examine the nature of his interest too closely, either. Let it just be whatever it was. Him. Her. Under the dark sky, surrounded by the warm air that was like an embrace, exhilarated by scents that were both foreign and familiar at once.

He was not immune to beauty. The other members of F4 liked to tease him with the label of 'cold-blooded Casanova', which was something of a misappellation in Yi Jung's mind. It wasn't that he didn't feel. (How, after all, could an artist create without feeling?) It was just that he prided himself on his control over it, which in his mind at least made a very sharp contrast between himself and his father. He might be the son of that aging lothario, but they were not the same...

Yi Jung realized that Ga Eul was gazing up at him with some trepidation written across her features, and he quickly pursued his earlier question. "I need an answer, Ga Eul yang. Tell me what I want to hear."

Her lips tightened in that adorable almost-pout she made when something vexed her, and she said with a flash of spirit, "How could I possibly know what you want to hear?"

Yi Jung, distracted by her mouth, thought suddenly about kissing it. He quickly tried to think about something, _anything_ else, but the impulse remained firmly lodged in his head.

He said a few inaudible bad words.

"What?" Ga Eul asked, frowning.

"Nothing. Why haven't you answered me yet?"

"Sunbae..." Ga Eul seemed to be collecting her thoughts with an effort. "I don't think it would be a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Because--we shouldn't pretend something that's not real. When we go back to Korea, you aren't going to come see me at work, are you? And I'm not going to go to your studio..." She blushed adorably.

He cocked an eyebrow, intrigued by this. "I just asked for a dance, Ga Eul yang. I didn't ask you to marry me."

Her cheeks further deepened in color, and she glanced away in confusion. "Well...that's how it starts, I mean."

He laughed out loud at this. "What would a country girl like you know about those sorts of things?"

"I may be a country girl, but I'm not an idiot!" Ga Eul retorted, clearly insulted by this light-hearted question.

"Of course you're not an idiot," Yi Jung soothed, thinking, _although _I_ might be, for continuing to have this conversation with you..._"All right then...Ga Eul sshi--if you are so worldly, then why haven't you found your soulmate yet? Hm?"

"One doesn't LOOK for one's soulmate," she replied loftily. "They're just...there." Her voice faded away as she met his eyes. Abruptly, the sense of playfulness in their banter died. Yi Jung cursed the moonlight for making her look so damn alluring, and cursed himself because he knew he was losing the battle with his self-discipline this time.

"Just there," she repeated, in a whisper, though it seemed as if she were only saying it because both of them felt the silence was too charged.

"Ya!" The shout made both of them actually start a little, it was so unexpected. Jun Pyo's jovial tone had never been more unwelcome, Yi Jung thought, wincing as the mood was immediately broken and Ga Eul, who had been very close, jumped a couple of steps back.

"What are you two doing here?" F4's leader demanded, still jovial with a touch of fake-threatening implication mixed in. He had come about halfway down the pier without either of them noticing.

Ga Eul ducked her head and looked far too embarrassed to respond, so Yi Jung said smoothly, sliding hands in pockets, "Admiring the view."

"The view?" Jun Pyo glanced around. "It's night." He gave Ga Eul a knowing grin, which she didn't see because she was avoiding looking at either of them. "Is this fella stalking you again Ga Eul? Want me to report him to Jan Di?"

"I...I should go back," Ga Eul stammered. "It's getting late."

"It certainly is," Jun Pyo said affably, with a parental air.

The young men watched as she gave a cursory bow of the head to excuse herself to both of them and then hurried away.

"Thanks a lot," Yi Jung said. "Your timing was great."

"What? Timing?" Jun Pyo chuckled in disbelief. "You saying you were just about to...Now that I think about it, you two were standing awfully close. Rascal."

Yi Jung knocked his friend's shoulder punch away, but more out of mild frustration than real anger. "Now she's going to make sure I'm not alone with her again."

"Love will find a way," Jun Pyo offered solemnly.

"You really ought to shut up."

Jun Pyo eyed him for a moment, trying to determine to what extent he was serious.

Yi Jung added, feeling a touch of guilt, "Besides, who said anything about love?"

"OK--anyway, never mind." They were silent for a few moments and then Jun Pyo said, "I just came down to let you know we're taking off tomorrow."

"Back home," Yi Jung said. Ga Eul's words echoed in his mind: _When we go back to Korea, you aren't going to come see me at work, are you?_

_Aren't I? I think I_ am_..._


End file.
